"The taste of the living is so good!" The Mountain Lord licked the blood from his lips, looking as though he still hadn't had his fill.
"Mountain Lord, there's another one running over there," Old Zhang reminded him, pointing at Yang Li.
He didn't want anyone making it safely back to Blackwater County and exposing his collusion with the Mountain Lord to frame others.
The Mountain Lord said mockingly, "His kidney's injured. He won't get far. By the way, didn't you say there were four of them in all? How come there are only three...?"
"I'm not sure. Maybe he died in the Underground River..." Old Zhang replied uncertainly.
"I'll send a Ghost Servant to look for him."
The Mountain Lord suddenly opened his mouth wide, and a wavering human figure crawled out from inside.
Old Zhang couldn't see it. Only the Mountain Lord could.
This was a Ghost Servant—the one that had possessed the hunter earlier.
Ghost Servants were Lesser Ghosts formed after being killed by a tiger. They obeyed tigers completely and lured others into their jaws.
They posed no threat to strong, well-built Martial Artists and only picked on ordinary people.
This was the Mountain Lord's last Ghost Servant.
As for Zhou Fei, who had just been bitten to death, the Ghost Servant he would become was still taking shape inside the Mountain Lord. It would take some time before he appeared.
The Ghost Servant, its face full of misery, headed toward the mouth of the Underground River cave.
Nearby, Zhao Han was crouching and watching everything.
"The Mountain Lord is badly injured. If I mix lime with water, I should be able to subdue it!" Zhao Han thought, narrowing his eyes.
Zhao Han couldn't see the Mountain Lord's Ghost Servant. But after dropping the Yin Wood and backing away, he soon felt the chill from the Yin Wood Jade Pendant growing stronger.
When he felt the chill drawing closer, Zhao Han gauged the Ghost Servant's speed and slowly crept backward, keeping out of its sight.
Afterward, the Mountain Lord unhurriedly went after Yang Li, while Old Zhang beamed as he searched the corpses.
The hunter's corpse and Zhou Fei's corpse must have had plenty of good stuff.
And with the cloth bundle containing the Python nearby, this trip had made him a fortune.
But just as he had gathered up all the valuables, an arm suddenly came to rest on his shoulder.
"Old Zhang, what are you doing here?" Zhao Han asked with a chuckle.
He had jumped into the Underground River to avoid the Ghost Servant. Then he came back out to retrieve the Yin Wood.
After all, the Ghost Servant was only a Lesser Ghost. It simply followed the Mountain Lord's orders, trudging inside like an idiot without noticing Zhao Han at all.
"So it's you, young friend. I'm glad you're still alive. The other two were bitten to death by the tiger, and Old Yang went to draw it away." Old Zhang turned around, his expression unchanged.
"So that's what happened," Zhao Han said with a chuckle. "Then what are you doing now?"
Old Zhang remained calm. "I'm just preparing the two heroes' bodies for burial. They have wives and children to support back home, so I was going to take their bodies back and sell the Python. I'd send the money to their families too."
"Then let me hold onto it. I'll make sure it gets to their families." Zhao Han reached for the valuables.
"Whoosh!"
Old Zhang suddenly flung a handful of white powder at Zhao Han, then turned and bolted.
Unfortunately for him, Zhao Han had been ready. He dodged with a sidestep, then caught up to Old Zhang in two quick strides.
He reached out, seized Old Zhang by the shoulder, and yanked him back.
"You really thought I hadn't seen anything, huh?"
"Thud!"
"Crack..."
A punch slammed into Old Zhang's nose, breaking it.
"G-good hero, spare me..." Old Zhang's body trembled as he begged in pain.
"Tell me, do you know where the Mountain Lord keeps its treasure?" Zhao Han barked.
Old Zhang's voice broke as he cried, "I... I don't know. The Mountain Lord has always been wary of us humans."
"If you don't know, then die!"
Zhao Han grabbed Old Zhang by the throat and twisted. With a crack, Old Zhang's eyes bulged as he died.
After taking care of Old Zhang, Zhao Han quickly gathered the spoils, then searched his corpse.
A cloth bundle containing two Pythons.
A total of 10 taels of silver.
One copy of Classified Military Archery.
A saber and a short sword.
A bow and ten arrows.
Zhao Han took out Basic Archery and stored everything else in the System Space.
[Notice: The System Space cannot store living creatures]
Zhao Han froze. Living creatures?
He looked at the cloth bundle containing the Pythons. Weren't those two living creatures?
He immediately took them out and chopped off their heads. Now they weren't living creatures anymore.
After storing all the spoils in the System Space, Zhao Han spent five taels of silver to simplify Basic Archery.
Archery and martial arts were different. Mastering archery could take him far.
Basic Archery [Simplified, unclassified, not yet initiated 0/10, hit a jar ten meters away with a thrown stone ten times]
"That's pretty simple. I can do that in my sleep!"
Zhao Han put away Basic Archery, moved Old Zhang's corpse to a spot on the left where it couldn't be seen, then entered the stone chamber on the right.
The Mountain Lord had been recuperating here, so it likely had something hidden inside.
The stone chamber seemed to have been carved by human hands. It contained a stone table and stools, with a stone stove for making fires and air holes around the walls.
Zhao Han searched quickly and soon found a Pull Ring.
He pulled it, and a Double Door swung open.
"I knew it."
Zhao Han entered slowly, but didn't go all the way in. Instead, he leaned halfway inside and began to look around.
If he went in and the door shut behind him, he'd be left waiting for death.
He looked to the left and right and, sure enough, found another Pull Ring inside. The door could be opened and closed from either side.
Still, to be safe, Zhao Han brought over two stone stools and wedged them against the entrance. Then he went in to investigate by torchlight.
"Look at all these Copper coins on the ground!"
As soon as he entered, Zhao Han spotted Copper coins scattered across the floor—several thousand, roughly.
Scattered bits of silver were mixed in among them.
Beside them was a tiger's den, made from several layers of animal hides the Mountain Lord had stripped from its prey.
There was also quite a bit of silver beside the den, along with one tael of gold.
Besides that, a small chest held several manuals and some jewelry and jade ornaments.
"I'm rich!"
Greedy heat shone in Zhao Han's eyes as he rushed over to tally everything.
A quick count:
One tael of gold.
Fifty taels of silver.
Four taels of silver in scattered pieces on the floor.
More than three thousand Copper coins.
Two jade ornaments and five pieces of jewelry, each worth at least five taels of silver.
There were also four manuals.
One copy of the unclassified Snake-Style Deft Hand.
One copy of the unclassified Fierce Tiger Palm.
One copy of the unclassified Eighteen Paths of Swift Blade.
And one copy of the Classified Tiger Subduing Fist.
Zhao Han casually tossed the three common, unclassified martial arts into the System Space.
No matter how much one practiced unclassified martial arts, they weren't much use. He might as well train in the classified Tiger Subduing Fist instead.
From the name alone, Fierce Tiger Palm was clearly the same kind of martial art as Tiger Subduing Fist. Simplifying Fierce Tiger Palm would be less effective than simplifying Tiger Subduing Fist directly.
"Simplify!"
Twenty taels of silver vanished. Zhao Han immediately checked the panel.
Tiger Subduing Fist [Simplified, classified, not yet initiated 0/10, strike a tiger ten times]
"Now that's a martial art delivered right to my doorstep!" Zhao Han smiled. Wasn't there a tiger right outside?
Before you continue